MedCity News readers had some interesting ideas about technologies they think everyone in the healthcare space needs to know about. A few ideas came up more than once, warranting an amended list. So here you have it: five additions from readers who think these trends are about to break through in healthcare.

3D printing

I consciously left this one off the list thinking it was pretty self-explanatory, but readers were loud and clear: the cheap and automated creation of complex structures is about to disrupt healthcare. Scientists have already produced human ears, trachea and other organs, plus orthopedic implants and even stem cells. According to research firm Luxe Research, medical applications will drive much of the growth of the 3D printing market over the next several years.

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3D scanning

Thanks to @HealthcareWen for bringing this one to my attention. Essentially the opposite of 3D printing, non-contact 3D scanning turns real-life images into digital models. That would be useful in recreating or mass manufacturing something, but it’s also being applied to custom-fit medical products like orthodontics, prosthetics and orthotics. Creaform markets a handheld scanner specifically for the healthcare industry.

Nanotechnology

One commenter wagged a finger at me for leaving this one off when it’s actually the fuel behind a lot of individual technologies on the list. That’s fair. However, because it’s so broadly applied and has given way to a second generation of technologies, I’m not sure it belongs under the “emerging” category. It’s definitely an important term to understand, though.

This might fit under the category of artificial intelligence, but the consumer angle is an important one. We have these tools for clinicians, but @gfry says we’ll need them for consumers in order to put really patients at the center of their own health data and healthcare as the quantified self movement moves mainstream. Companies like Asthmapolis and Predictably Well that empower patients with predictive analytics are inching in that direction.

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By Deanna Pogorelc MedCity News

Deanna Pogorelc is a Cleveland-based reporter who writes obsessively about life science startups across the country, looking to technology transfer offices, startup incubators and investment funds to see what’s next in healthcare. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University and previously covered business and education for a northeast Indiana newspaper.More posts by Author